Storm threats line up behind Hurricane Gustav [National Hurricane Center graphic]
September 1, 2008
Hurricane Gustav comes in what is traditionally the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season (roughly late August to mid-September).
As this National Hurricane Center map shows, Gustav is only the most severe of a number of threats.
Tropical storm Hanna is over the Bahamas, just east of Cuba. Experts are still unsure where it will head, though the NHC predicts it will travel north, perhaps threatening the east coast of Florida.
Further out in the Atlantic is an area of low pressure with 'high potential for tropical cyclone formation' (the red area); and east of that is a system with 'medium potential' (the orange area).
These may come to nothing, but Cape Verde-type storms can become powerful as they cross the Atlantic. The category-five 2007 storm Hurricane Dean originated around Cape Verde.
For now, all eyes are rightly on the evacuation of New Orleans - but the worst of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season may be yet to come.
More on hurricanes: Back at the beginning of the 2008 season Ian Taylor wrote an analysis on changing extreme weather patterns, and the implications for crisis management in travel and tourism.
Gustav on Twitter: I've posted a list of Twitter users who appear to be covering the storm live from the ground.
Nathan Midgley
